carapherneilia
by ricosuave111
Summary: I watched as she walked away, tucking her gun into the holster under her jacket, combat boots tapping on the wet asphalt, dirty blonde hair hanging down her back, swishing on her leather jacket as she walked. I spat blood and one of my molars out of my mouth, resting my head on the dirty asphalt. I, Nicholas "Fang" Martinez, was in love with a killer. FAX
1. Chapter 1

Okey, so before I get a whole bunch of meanies reviewing about i'm spelling things wrong or using the wrong grammar part, im flipping dyslexic and I don't care, use your imagination and don't be a butthole.

CARAPHERNEILIA

MAX

I bolted upright, my skin clammy with cold sweat. I shivered and pulled my blanket tighter around myself. I breathed deeply, resting my elbows on my crossed knees. The dream flashed through my head again, and I shivered again, but not from the cold. I sighed and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, grabbing the bag of pills off the nightstand next to the bed. I downed three dry and stood, grabbing my gun from the floor and tucking it into my sweatpants pockets. The room around me was dark and empty, no pictures, no memoirs, cozy chairs or a television. All I had was a wall covered in guns, snipers, shotguns, handguns, crossbows, spike guns, swords, daggers, dart guns, rows of wolfsbane and needles and wine bottles spiked with vervain.

Because when your a vampire hunter, you can never be too safe.

FANG

I ducked into the shadows, keeping my line of sight of my feet, ignoring the stares from the people around me. I tightened the straps of my backpack, looking up just as the old, ancient looking building of Red-water High school campus came into view beyond the trees. I was a senior, but I shure didn't feel like it. I had been to high school over about six times, mostly out of boredom, get a few girls, or a few dozen.

I walked up the stone steps, smirking at a group of girls who were giggling and sneaking looks at me. I found my regular spot next to the doors, hiding me from the view from the road. I slouched behind a tall, wrought iron planter, pulling an old book out of my bag. I ignored the whispers and stares from all the girls around me, My first few month of school were always like this, I was mobbed with girls who begged me to be their boyfriend, but I only had about one girlfriend per month. I'm not saying I was a player, but I was just looking for someone who made me happy, preferably for over a month.

I heard the silky engine of a Aston Martin pulling up in front of the school. I stood up from behind the planter, seeing the matte-black car pull up into the front parking spot. A model type girl stepped out of the drivers side of the car with dirty blonde hair pulled up in a bun with black skinny jeans, a Pierce the Veil tee-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and black heels with spikes all over them. Another girl with blonde ringlets stepped out of the other side of the car, looking sheepish as she pulled her backpack out of the car as all the people on the porch watched them.

The taller girl walked towards the school confidently, her little sister trailing behind her. She walked towards me up the stairs, my breath catching in my throat when her eyes locked with mine, warm brown and chocolate colored, but they narrowed, and she pursed her lips at me, and stepped to the side, putting herself between her sister and me. I blinked, surprised as she led her sister into the school, her piercing gaze never leaving me. What the hell?

I waited a second before following them into the building, and spotted her immediately showing her sister to the office. She grinned at the girl who smiled back and disappeared inside the office. The taller girl smiled and turned to face me, her brilliant smile vanishing when she saw me. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, and she walked up to me.

"I'm sorry, can you just take a picture? It will definatly last longer." She sneered, and I blinked again, pushing away the thought of how damn gorgeous she was up close. She had tiny freckles scattered over the bridge of her delicate nose, huge, doe-like eyes, and heart-shaped face and hairline.

"I prefer the real thing. Sorry." She flicked a piece of hair away from her face and crossed her arms over her chest. Starting to look scary.

"If you feel like you need anything from me, please hesitate to ask." She said with a smirk as she shoved past me, but I grabbed her wrist. She spun to face me, her lips pursed and face turning pink...strange.

"Whats your name?" I asked, and she yanked her wrist away from me. She frustrated me, most girls would be practical be drooling from talking to me by now, But she looked disgusted.

"I'm Max." Max? Unique, I like it, Not to girly and not to rough. I opened my mouth to tell her my name but she interrupted me, leaning in close to my face menacingly.

"Lets get a few things through your thick head, You will never have another positive experience around me." She spat, making air quotes around the word positive, "Stay away from my sister, and don't say anything else." She said before walking away from me, leaving me dumbstruck behind her. She turned, before calling in her silky voice,

"And you should stop starving yourself, black eyes are never attractive on, well, your kind." She smiled and walked away and out the doors, leaving me speechless behind her.

She knew.

Max, Max Max MaxMaxMaxMaxMax. Her name ran through my head as I shoved through the door to my "lair" I guess you could call it. Or the bat-cave, yeah, definitely the bat-cave. The steel door slammed closed behind me, and Gazzy leaped out from behind the shadows, shouting,

"Fang's home!" I grunted and walked around him, And he muttered,

"Prick." Behind me. Gazzy was the newest of my group, he was only fifty-something. I walked down the dark concrete stairs, the smell of blood wafting up from the darkness. I felt my stomach coil in hungry knots, but I shoved it away. I flicked on the lights, and Lissa appeared at the bottom of the steps, leaning against the wall , trying to look seductive.

"What." I said, not even looking at her after the glance. She huffed and followed after me, swinging her arms too hard to try to keep up with me.

"Fang, Just look at me! Why can't you even look at me!" She whined, her nails scratching my arm as she tries to cling onto it. I grunted and sped up my pace, and her heels clicked faster as I pushed through another door to our lounge, the lights almost blinding me compared to the dark hallway. I slouched down into my usual chair, breathing in the atmosphere. The bloodspots on the oriental carpets, red velvet couches with clawed legs, guilded side tables and coffee tables, ivory carved lamps, stone fireplace with gold plates, Yup, home. Iggy walked through the far door, grabbing two cups out form under my expensive wine collection. Lissa sat across from me, leaning over and giving me a clear view of her boobs, I could definatly life without the view, especially with the image of Max running through my brain at a million miles per hour. Iggy plopped down on the couch next to me and handing me a drink, which I gladly accepted.

"How was school oh great seniority?" Iggy was one of my best friends, not saying her didn't annoy the crap out of me sometimes. I inwardly sighed and closed my eyes.

"Saw the hottest chick ever." Lissa huffed and leaned back, finally. Iggys face brightened.

"What did she look like?" I leaned back and re-conjured the image of Max.

"Pretty." I said, and Iggy groaned, dragging a hand down his face.

"You suck." he said and Lissa pouted and said,

"I bet she's damn ugly." I felt my blood boil at her ignorance. My head shot up at her, the veins around my eyes standing rigid under my skin and my irises yellowing.

"What was that?" I asked her, and her eyes were the size of saucers, she knew not to mess with me.

"I said she was probably ugly." She said with somewhat confidence. I stood, clenching and unclenching my fists.

"Right now would be a great time for you to become a missing person." I said through clenched teeth, and she scurried out of the room. I plopped back down In my chair, and Iggy raised an eyebrow at me,

"You shure hot, Is all you feel for this girl?" He asked, and I leaned my head back against the back of my chair.

"No. And it seriously sucks." Iggy laughed and propped his feet up on the glass coffee table, Turning on the T.V. above the burning fireplace. Gazzy walks into the room, carrying a knot blanket with fish on it. Iggy sees him come into the room and yells.

"Gasman! My partner in crime! Sit! Sit!" he yells, and Gazzy skips (Facepalm) across the room and plops down on the backless couch.

"Nudge went to get groceries." Gazzy said, emphasizing the word groceries. I groaned and leaned back farther into my chair. Iggy rolled his eyes, but continued to watch the T.V. As the show Vampire Diaries came on. My stomach growled loudly and I hunched over, tryign to cover up the noise.

"Change the channel." I ground out.

"Sorry Fangalicious, not all of us like to starve." He said and Gazzy laughed. Iggy took another sip of the amber liquid in his glass, and swallowed loudly and shouted to Gazzy,

"How does Nudge watch this crap, record it, and then wire the tele so all we can watch is Vampire diaries and PLL?"

"Did you seriously just refer to that show as PLL?" I asked him blandly, and he threw a pillow at me, missing.

"Way to successfully miss."

"Yeah, And its not like Fang is a small target..."

"Does that mean im fat?"

"I'm not going to answer that question."

"You'd better not."


	2. Chapter 2

**Okey, so before you read, I want to thank all you wonderful people who reviewed and favorited my story. I went on my email and was all, HOLY COW. Yeah, thanks for being fantastic and sorry for not updating. Oh, forgot who asked this but Angel is Max's sister, Ella is her friend. SORRY for not updating an a month. I started school, and Im bad at school, so I want to try and get ahead. **

chapter 2- MAX

I got back into my car, and leaned my forehead against the steering wheel. The sound of my own pulse thundering against my ears. Something about that boy made me afraid, nervous, maybe even helpless. No, I would get him. Just like all the other ones. I was Maximum Ride, probably the worlds greatest Vampire hunter, I could count the number of vampires I had killed on my fingers if I had twenty more arms. Guys were the least of my concerns. But a hot, jerky, poop-headed vampire guy? That was a new one. I leaned back up in the seat, turning my keys in the ignition. My car roars to life, and I back out of my spot. I tear down the road, headed back to my apartment. I had some calls to make.

* * *

I burst into my apartment, And run over to my wall, throwing my bag across the counter. I take the home phone from the charger and immediately dial the number. I grab my gold handgun off the first hook, pulling on my holster over my shoulders, stuffing my gun into the right loop.

"Hello?" I hear the voice sound on the other end of the line, I take a big breath.

"Hey Ella, its Max." There is a long pause on the other end of the line.

"Oh my gosh! Max I haven't heard from you in forever! And I know you only moved away because of he who must not be named and..." She suddenly shut up and apologized.

"Sorry Max, well either way, what may I assist with?" I smiled on the other end of the phone.

"I found a clan. Old ones, i'm gonna need some help." She squealed on the other line, and there was a muffled shuffling on the other end.

"Can you come get me? I'm still a fetus."

"Yup." I snatched my keys off the counter and grabbed my bag.

"I'll be there in an hour." She hung up on the other line and I grab a crossbow off a top hook. I walk out of my apartment, locking the door behind me and going down the old stairs by twos. I kick through the glass door in the lobby and cross the parking lot to my car, ignoring the looks I often get for carrying assorted weapons around. I threw my crossbow and bag into the passenger seat of my car and left for Ella's house.

I pulled into the driveway, Taking a deep breath as Ella flew out the door with a bright green luggage bad that was almost as big as herself.

"How are you going to fit that in here?" I asked, eyebrows raised, and she shrugged nonchalantly.

"You'll make it fit." I huffed and took her bag from her, popping the tiny trunk to my Aston Vanquish. I put the bag in, the edge of it still sticking out a good five inches.

"Your shure you need this?" I whined, as Ella climbed into the passenger side of my car.

"Um, DUH Max." I huffed, looking at the bag, before giving it a good spartan kick, wedging it into the trunk snugly. I smiled in triumph, before skipping to the drivers side of my car, sliding into the black leather seat, still smiling.

"I'm gonna guess you got it." Ella asked, giving me a strange sideways look.

"Nothing the marvelous Max couldn't handle!" Ella chuckled a little, before turning up the music as I backed out of her driveway. I sighed and leaned back into the black leather seat, enjoying the air conditioning in the hot September air.

"Max, I'm Hungry." Ella said with no hesitation. I sighed and poked around in the center console for my wallet.

"Okay, where do you want to get lunch." She gave me a strange sideways look.

"Dinner Max." My eyes bugged open. Angel needed to be picked up from school at three thirty!

"Shit!" I screamed, and stomped of the gas pedal, my car lurching forward, ripping down the highway, Ella screeching and clung to the handles attached to the ceiling as we tore down the highway.

"What did you forget now?" She yelled, eyes wide.

"Angel! I forgot Angel at school!" It was a good hour after five, and angel needed to be picked up two and a half hours ago. We made it home in another twenty minutes, Angel must have walked home, alone, by now. I ran up the stairs, leaving Ella running behind me, calling for me to wait up. I jammed my key into the lock of my door, bursting through it panting, just to hear the t.v. Blaring Bones re-runs, Angels favorite show. I sighed and walked back out the door, only to run into a tired looking ella and her giant suitcase.

"You do know I had to haul this thing out of your overstuffed trunk and up those stairs by myself, right?" She said angrily, flicking a caramel colored curl away from her eyes. I rolled my else and took her suitcase from her, dragging into the guest room, in other words my room, I would, sleep on the couch or in angels room until Ella left. I heard laughing in the center room, and I poked my head in, my heart nearly stopping. Sitting next to Angel was a swirl of black, almost purple hair, and a black teeshirt clad back facing towards me, face unseen. I stepped into the room, arms crossed, and barked,

"Hey, Mind explaining why your here?" I asked, and the head turned towards me and Angels laughter stopped suddenly, and she looked down at her hands which were now twisted in her lap. The head turned towards me, the eyes digging into mine, dark black, the pupil invisible in the iris, a sharp face with high cheekbones and defined jaw. That creep from this morning!

"Yeah, who are you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched up into a smirk, and he stood, easily a head taller than me.

"Sorry, Your sister was alone at school. I took her home and she was still alone. So think of it as babysitting." She said, and my mouth dropped open, but I quickly closed it. I grit my jaw and glared at him, hissing,

"Stay away from her. And stay away from me. Im not losing any more of my family." He smiled at me, and walked around me, headed for the door, only to run into Ella, who was coming through the doorway.

"Shit, sorry." She said, before looking up, and looking around his shoulder with wide eyes.

"Oh well who are you?" She asked, a smile on her lips, he smirked at me over her shoulder,

"Nick, but you can call me Fang." I glared at Ella, and she just smiled at me innocently. She was going to do something that I wouldn't approve of, she definatly had that look on her face.

"So, Fang, Im making dinner with the rides tonight." Bullsnot she was making dinner, I was about to interrupt her when,

"How would you like to stay and eat with us!" She said, squealing out the last few words. I saw Fang wince almost invisibly, before smirking at her again. Not a smile, just the corners of his lips twitching up in a smirk.

"I would love to." He said, and Angel leaped up from the couch, yanking on my sleeve, and I looked down at her, her huge blue eyes begging.

"Please Max?" She begged, her eyes widening and filling with tears, oh no, the Bambi eyes...I tried to look away, but she moved to stay in my line of vision. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Fine, he may sit at my table." Ella and Angel cheered, and Fang just stood next to Ella, smirking directly at me, And I glared right back at her, before she turned on her heel, practically skipping onto my kitchen. I followed her, intentionally knocking my shoulder into Fangs, who's didn't move, ripping mine to the side. I hissed a breath, and he looked down at me with eyes widened a fraction of a millimeter, before smirking down at me.

"Play nice, Maximum."


	3. MAX

**Hey, sorry it took me so long to update. My school just loves to give us all the homeword physicaly possible to give. But hey, I got it done.**

**RICO**

Chpt3-Fang

I dug the blunt end of my fork into the rough wood of my breakfast table. Angel had happily leaped up into the chair next to Fang, talking to him and asking him to tell her more about his sister. I continued to glare at him, not even blinking, jaw hardset and, well, unblinking. He smirked at me and my hand shook around my fork, damn hand.  
Ella slid a plate of shells stuffed with cheese and beef in front of me. Her mom is an expert cook, and Ella luckily got that gene. My mom, Ella's aunt, didn't get that part of the genetic soup, leaving me destined to slave away with the microwave and frozen toaster waffles.  
I eagerly stuffed a whole shell into my mouth, and watched in a sick awe as Fang neatly cut his shell in half and put in civilly in his mouth, chewing, and swallowing, his eyes locked with mine the whole time, his eyes smirking. I stuck my tongue out at him and stuffed another shell into my mouth, such a lady. Ella smiled and went back into the kitchen where she was boiling more shell noodles. She knew that I ate alot, but Fang was pretty unpredictable, Har de har vampire boy.

"How do you do that?"I blurted to him, but not regretting it after the shock bloomed over his face for half a second.

"Do what, Eat? The same was as you, Maximum." He said, one side of his mouth twitching up into a smirk, on his stupid cupids bow lips. I huffed and bit off half of a shell.

"No, be so ugly, Nicholas." I said, grinning at him, his smirk faltering for a second, But he flipped his hair and responded.

"Well you seem to think I'm pretty sexy Maximum." Angel snickered next to him, but her face was hidden behind her bangs as she laughed down at her food. Weirdo.

"Maybe if I was from mars, but seeing as I'm not..." I trailed off, and he shook his head and ate the last piece of his third shell.

"Keep telling yourself that, Maximum." He said, leaning back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. Angels eyes followed us as we argued.

"Stop calling me that." I spat. don't get me wrong, I like my name, but the way he said it was really, really hot. Hot and annoying. He leaning forward in his chair, his lopsided smirk still plastered to his tan face.

"But I like it." I frowned and he just grinned at me, well, a half grin.

"Well I don't." He snickered, and I felt my blood boil.

"Allright, Maximum." I snarled and leaped across the table, throwing my empty plate of shells to the side, pinning him to the floor my his neck as soon as Ella walked in. She smiled sweetly down at me, her smile a little too tight and forced, her eyes burning, Head cocked to the side.

"Remember how we're not supposed to attack our guests, Maxie?" She said in a forced sweet voice." She said, slamming the new platter of shells down on the table, her anger making even me flinch. Fang just smirked under me, putting his warm hands over my hipbones.

"Dunno Ella, I rather like this position." He said with a smirk, and i scrambled out of his grasp, a sneer on my face,

"Sexist raper piglet." I hissed, walking around the table and sitting back in my spot, dishing myself out more shells, Angel snickering at me.

I sat on The far end of the couch from Fang, curled up into a tight ball, my side pressed up into the arm of the old leather couch. Ella snored in the armchair next to me, and Fang shook with laughter every time Zach Galifianakis opened his mouth on the t.v. screen. Angel had gone to bed a long time ago, walking like a zombie down the hall to her room.

Ella snored softly and I felt Fangs black eyes dig into my head every few seconds. Ugh, why did he have to make it so much more uncomfortable by staring at me the whole movie. I turned to Fang when I was sure Ella was asleep.

"So, mind explaining why you're here?" He smirked and looked down at his lap. Jeez, what is with this guy and his smirking?

"Your sister was standing outside talking to my sister, who had tech club after school, which takes two hours, she was friends with my sister, so I agreed to take her home." Wow, that must have been the longest and most not-sexual thing he has said. like ever.

"You can thank me later." He said, when I didn't respond.

"Why did you bring her here? Why not feed on her and leave in a ditch somewhere." He laughed out loud and looked at me with laughing eyes.

"You're kidding right?" He said, and I shot him a venomous look. He cleared his throat, his eyes looking back at the screen. Black, starving, eyes, still flecked with gold.

"No." he shrugged.

"You must not meet alot of vampires. I haven't feed on a human In, ehh, maybe fifty years." I frowned, depending on how old he was, that wasn't very long at all.

"How old are you?" I asked, and he smirked and shook his head.

"Thats my information, Not yours." He said, looking right at me, one look telling me not to press the subject. I looked down at my knees, disappointed. What could make his age such a big secret.

"Either way." He said leaning a little towards me. "How did you know about me?" I frowned. Why was I being so friendly with him. He seemed too nice to be a vampire.

"Your eyes. No one has eyes like that, black with rings of gold radiating from the pupil." He smirked, leaning forward and taking his feet of my coffee table.

"So you admit I have beautiful eyes." he said, and I reached across the couch to sock his arm, not even budge him from his spot. He eyed me, looking skeptical.

"No, I said they were unique to vampires, more specifically, ones that haven't feed properly in a long time." I spat out the word, properly, and he scooted a tiny bit closer to me, and I pressed myself a little harder into the arm of the couch.

"Thats probably because I haven't." I looked back up at him, his eyes holding something indistinguishable, but his face was stoic, his eyes giving away every tiny flicker of emotion.

"My turn to ask questions." He said, and I nodded.

"How did you even learn to recognise a vampire, you must have a reason." I froze. the one question I hoped he wouldn't ask. Every dream for years was the same. My parents bodies hanging dismembered from the ceiling with lamp wires. Their bodies free of blood, but bite marks scattered over their naked skin, a shadow watched me from the shadows, just a tiny nine year old with her six year old sister. The shadows voice terrifies me, the voice smooth and menacing all at the same time, his face undistinguashingable (holy cats big word) all except for his glowing blue eyes rimmed with red and black. Before he lunged at me, his teeth sinking into my neck, my shriek the last thing I remember before I drowned in pain and darkness, tears streaming down my face.

"Max?" Fang asks, putting a warm hand on my shoulder, shaking it gently. I snap out of my memory, looking at him through red eyes, I hadn't even realized the tears I felt in my memory were real.

"I thought I was Maximum." I said bitterly, and he laughed softly, his eyes sad.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." I shook my head.

"No you should know." He looked down at me, I hadn't even seen him come to sit closer to me, his shoulder brushing mine.

"I'm a hunter. vampire hunter." I said grimly, but he didn't tense or shift away from me, he just breathed, In and out.

"To avenge my parents." He nodded, and wrapped me into a hug, pulling me into his warm, hard chest. I tensed, before melting into him, breathing in his spicy, musky smell. Long story short, he smelled amazing. I came out from under his daze and pulled away from him.

"I don't need your sympathy." I hissed, yanking my body away from him. Trusting a vampire would be the dumbest thing I could ever do, and I wasn't about to make that mistake.

"Maybe I should go." He said uncertainly, before leaving the room. I heard him swipe his fancy leather messenger bag off the breakfast bar and linger at the door, shuffling his feet and draw in a long breath. If only I had known that it was more than my blood that he wanted.


	4. Fang

**AHHHHHH hello. Sorry this chapter took foreverevereverever to upload. Some dingy freshman threw my precious backpack with my equally precious laptop at a table. FLICKING SHATTERING my computer screen. Needless to say I got it fixed and just ten minutes I got it back. Sooo here is my probably not-very-anticipated chapter. **

** -RICOH**

Chapter 4- FANG  
I shut the door behind me, adjusting the strap of my bag over my shoulder. I took a deep breath and leaned against the thick door leading to Max's apartment. Her smell still lingered around the hallway, Max smelled like a flower, well here blood smelled like a flower. The smell was almost nauseating in a good way, what about her made her so...I didn't want to say appetizing but that was the right word in this situation. I pushed of the door and walked down the hall, away from her apartment.  
I knew I shouldn't have gone there, with her being a hunter and all. I could definitely hurt her more than she could hurt me, but I didn't want to, I wanted to protect her. And that was the total opposite of what I was probably supposed to feel towards her.  
Every other hunter I had encountered in the past I had killed with no hesitation, most of them being men, but very few were able to identify me as quickly as Max could. She was obviously crazy experienced, and not very trusting.  
I passed a teenage girl who looked no older than angel smoking a blunt outside the grimy front doors of the building, she smiled seductively, and I felt a rising hunger in my throat, but I shoved it down, turning my head so she wouldn't see the whites of my eyes blackening. I crossed the parking lot to my black mustang, popping the trunk and throwing in my bag, leaning on my hands taking deep breaths, trying to calm down my senses, the smell of the girls cheap perfume and the fresh asphalt stronger.  
I pushed away from my car, slamming the trunk closed, and getting in the drivers side, the darkly tinted windows offering a haven from the eyes of the girl who was looking directly at my car, unblinking. What the hell? She crushed the rest of the blunt in her palm, and began to walk across the parking towards me in long strides, pulling sunglasses down over her eyes, but there was no sun, because it was fricking night time. I jammed my key into the transmission, my car roaring to life and I backed out as fast as I could right out of the parking lot, ripping down the empty road. In my rearview mirror she stepped out into the road, my night vision allowing me to see the sinister smile spread over her blood red lips. I looked away from her, what a creep.  
I turned off the back road to the main road to the heart of the town, finding the abandoned pawn shop in the lesser loved part of town. I parked in the garage, grabbing my bag out of the trunk, and walked fast to the door, the knowing smile of the girl stuck in my mind. Maybe she actually knew about me, but then again, maybe she was just stoned out of her mind. Not many people knew about me.

I pushed through the pawn shop doors, ignoring the closed sign hanging in the window. Louis stood behind the desk, his long white eyebrows bunched together like fuzzy, white caterpillars when he saw me walk through the doors.  
"Evening Nicholas." He said to me warily in his old, crackly voice, dark brown eyes following me as I crossed his shop. Louis was one of my sisters descendants, but he didn't know that. I liked to keep track of my family's descendants, mostly because they were very few, but because when they did find out about me, we negotiated a sort of exchange. They would get protection and we would get a place to stay.  
"Hey Louis." I cast a rare smile at the old man. He kept his nose out of things and didn't bother us. His wife died two years ago, she was the one who found out about her husband being a descendant. Needless to say she never visited the pawn shop after finding out the new neighbors in the basement where vampires.  
I went down some stairs at the back of the building to a locked door that led to the batcave. I pushed through the door into the gold light the antique lamps gave off. Nudge sat in a chair in front of the fireplace, some t.v. show playing loudly through the television mounted above the burning fireplace, a bowl of excessively buttered popcorn on her lap and multiple sprite cans laying empty over the coffee table. I rolled my eyes as she started yelling something at the t.v. and throwing a handful of popcorn at the face of the character on the screen, but it only went a few feet.  
"Your picking that up." I told her, and her head whipped up to look at me, a smile on her face.  
"You're exceptionally happy, Fangles." she said, and continued to fire questions at me. I took a cup out from under the cabinet and poured myself a glass of whiskey, downing it and pouring myself another one. I needed it if I was going to life through a night of Nudge. And with Max on my mind. I downed my glass again and filled it, going to sit by Nudge. Stealing a handful of her popcorn, I leaned back and listened to her scream obscenities at the television again.  
"You drink too much." Nudge told me, and I raised my eyebrows at the screen.  
"And you watch Shitty shows." She harrumphed and leaned back in her chair.  
"You just have a way with shutting down conversation, you know that?" She said, frowning.  
"Gee, I didn't even know that was even possible with you." She stuck her tongue out at me and stuffed another handful of popcorn into her mouth, muttering,  
"Prick," under her breath.  
"Love you too, Nudgey-Wudgey." I said, and she hurled another handful of popcorn at me. I smiled and picked up the pieces off my black sweatshirt.  
"Why thank you." I said sweetly. Nudge clenched her jaw and refused to look at me, but her eyes smiled.


	5. maxfang

Hokay chapter two of my comeback uploading after the whole laptop fiasco. SO here is my chapter of zee day.

p.s. Sorry about my horribly short last chapter. I tried to make it longer with excessivly flowery language but it sounded stupid. So I left it alone. Kissies. (eww.)

-RICOH

Chapter 5: Max  
Angel walked into the building of red-water high school, her hello kitty backpack and curls disappearing behind the black doors. I tore out of the parking lot, hoping I wouldn't see Fang hanging around town today. It had been a week since he had watched comedy at my house and I spilled one of my biggest secrets to a threat. Great going Max.  
I decided not to go spend my life savings at Starbucks and went to an old coffee house at the corner of main, Ella told me they had exceptional scones and such. I pushed past the red wood door, the words Mocha Lisa painted on the window.  
I walked up a few stairs, the sounds of laughter and talking at the top of the stairs. If you hadn't guessed, I wasn't a huge social person, preferring to be surrounded my my tiny family of one and my even fewer friends. I went to the counter, greeted my a girl who looked a little younger than me with flaming red hair, her name tag reading, "Brigid."  
She looked at me distastefully and asked for my order snidely. I eyed her carefully, asking for a peppermint cappuccino with espresso. She snickered as If as I said something funny and I wondered if the little makeup I was wearing was running or I had a booger on the side of my face or something. I walked away from the counter, sitting at a two person booth at the back of the shop, hopefully where no one would notice me and try to start a conversation. I checked my reflection on my phone, seeing there was nothing, I went back to reminiscing about my life, that lasted for about three seconds until someone slid into the seat across from me.  
"Hey maximum." Fang. I plunked my head down on the table, and groaned. The one person who I hoped wouldn't be here.  
"What do you want?" I asked, picking my head up off the table, hoping silently I looked better than I felt. He smiled at me, his eyes smiling, he held up his hands In surrender. Brigid slid my cup in front of me, casting a longing look at Fang, who in return didn't even glance at her.  
"Hey, I come here everyday at the same time, this is my time you're invading!" I tried to suppress a laugh, but it slipped out as a giggle. What? Maximum Ride is giggling now? What is wrong with me? He smiled at me around the corner of his coffee cup. What was up with this guy? He seemed totally normal, warm, he was just sitting across from me drinking coffee like this was a totally normal day. Did he want this to be a totally normal, everyday thing?  
"Or are you just trying to find excuses to stalk me?" I said, shaking a finger at him, he half smiled, looking genuine.  
"More like avoiding other, more disliked people." He said, and I raised my eyebrows at him, before a flash of fire engine red hair zoomed across the cafe towards us, sliding in next to Fang. He looked sick and shot me a pleading look.  
"Fangy!" She squealed, and he looked sick. She latched onto his arm, rubbing her cheek on it. Clingy much? I felt jealousy rise in my throat. Stupid, stupid Max.  
"Mind giving an introduction?" I spat out at her, her green eyes narrowing and she slowly lifted her head from Fangs arm and looked at me. I repressed a laugh at the white spot her foundation left on his olive-skinned arm.  
"I should be asking you the same thing." She said, trying to look intimidating, but failing miserably. "I'm Lisa." She said, flipping her hair dramatically. Hah. Fang shot me a desperate look, mouthing,  
"say anything!" I smiled sweetly at him, then at her.  
"I'm his girlfriend." I said, and her jaw dropped, turning to gape at Fang.  
"Close your mouth sweetheart, you might catch flies." I said, and she closed her mouth with a snap, her head whipping back around to look at me.  
"Get out." She grit out. Her expression serious, eyes cold, yellowing around the edges, looking a little more bloodshot than they did a few seconds. I smiled at her, then grabbed my purse, getting out of the booth, Fang struggled to get past Lisa.  
"Max!" He called, desperation lacing his words. I didn't look back, but kept walking, feeling a hint of disappointment.  
"Maximum!" His shout sounded more like a command, I turned back to see the old ladies in the cafe watching him scramble over a squealing Lisa, the old ladies commenting and sighing about young love. Whatever. I turned and walked as fast as I could past the painted door, breaking into. A run towards my car. Why did my paranoid self park across the parking lot? I ran to my car, about to unlock the door, when Fang practically vaporized in front of me, my face only inches from his chest.  
"Excuse me, you're blocking my car." He snickered.  
"Sorry, didn't notice." I popped the trunk, plunking my purse on top of misshapen paper lumps. Thank god I had wrapped all of my weapons in brown paper. I slammed the trunk, trying to walk around my car to the drivers side, which would have been easier if Fang wouldn't stop walking in front of me.  
"Let me take you somewhere." He said, his eyes pleading, I could hear Lisa yelling with the manager of the cafe.  
"I don't think..."  
"Please." He asked, I looked up at him, black eyes with rings of gold, rimmed with black eyelashes. Those beautiful, starved eyes. I opened my mouth to reply, but the sound was ripped away. As he scooped me up like I weighed nothing, bolting towards the woods on the other side of the road. My chin rested on his shoulder as he ran into the woods in a blur, Lisa burst through the door, her eyes a vibrant yellow and the veins standing out under her skin around her eyes. My grip tightened around Fangs neck, his pace only increasing as the cafe disappeared from view as he tore through the trees at dizzying speeds. This confirmed he was a vampire by far more than anything else he could have done, except sinking his teeth into my jugular. But somehow I didn't think he would do that.  
Lisa's red hair shot like a bullet through the woods, but Fang slowly pulled away from her, leaving her screeching behind him. She slowly faded from my sight, and fang slowed his pace. Allowing my mind to catch up to me, and realizing how close his hand was to my butt. He was carrying me bridal style, but I had twisted to wind my arms around his neck, one of his arms wrapping around my upper back, the other had moved from the crook of my knees to my upper quads. I wriggled out of his grasp, glaring.  
"Pervert." I hissed, but he just smirked at me.  
"Not if you enjoy it." He said, and my face turned bright red, and he set me down, grinning from ear to ear. I stuck my tongue out at him and walked ahead of him, shuffling my feet, trying to force the blush and heat in my stomach to go away.  
"Hey, I'm sorry." I turned to face him, walking backwards to face him, arms crossed.  
"No you're not." I said, a smile slipping from my lips.  
"No, I'm really not." I turned back around to hide my smile, but he probably knew I was smiling, in his creepy, all knowing way.  
"So, why the woods?" I asked, and he took a few longer steps to catch up to me, stuffing his hands into his pockets and half-smiling at me.  
"Oh, its my favorite place to probably just rape you, feed on you, dismember you, and throw you in a gorge." He said casually, and my pace picked up, hands balling into fists, and I looked up at him, probably looking like a terrified mouse stuck under a cats paw.  
"Hey, I was kidding." His eyes softened, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into a half hug. I unconsciously inhaled his musky, spicy smell. Not like death at all, which I guessed surprised me. But considering he hadn't fed in over fifty years...  
"Thats not funny." I growled, punching his arm, and he feigned hurt.  
"I know, it was a weak attempt to be funny." I chuckled,  
"please, never do it again." He smiled and I wriggled out from under his arm. We walked in silence for a while, not an awkward silence, but a comfortable silence. Fang didn't really strike me as a very talkative guy, but I guess you can't judge a book by its cover, right?  
"Close your eyes." Fang whispered, barely audibly.  
"What? No way." I objected, but he just smiled, his black hair flopping over his dark eyes.  
"Fine, I'll do it for you." He moved me in front of him, putting his hands over my eyes. I wrapped my cold fingers around his warm wrists, holding on tight in case he was planning on throwing me over a cliff like a caveman. He nudged me forwards a few steps, before he peeled his hands away, revealing the sun just out of rise, the red and yellow just fading into the woods. Yeah, we were standing just above a cliff, covered in thick green grass.  
"Wow." I breathed, and he chuckled behind me, his chest still pressed into my back.  
"If we had been here earlier, it would have been a little more vibrant." He said softly, before going to sit cross legged in front of the cliff. I went and sat next to him, feeling the heat roll off his still body in the cold autumn air.  
"Whatever, its still really pretty." He smirked, looking straight ahead. His eyes calm and somehow serene, the hunger that always dwelled there gone.  
"Are you cold, Max?" I shook my head, turning my head slightly to look at him, his dark eyes watching mine. I quickly spin my head back away from him, a blush rising up my neck. Those stupid eyes! So what they were unnatural, they were mesmerizing, every single emotion played like a movie through them.  
"No, I'm fine." I lied, I was freezing, trying super hard not to shake in the cold, Montana (did I mention they lived there? No? Oops...) air. He held out an arm to me, his eyebrows hidden under his inky black hair.  
"Liar." He said, amusement tainting his voice. I rolled my eyes and scooted towards him, his bare arm wrapped over my shoulders tightly, pulling me into him, the hitch in his breath hardly noticeable. He was ungodly warm, smelled amazing, and looked like sin, smirking down at me with those mesmerizing eyes. Oh god, I LIKED the guy!  
Blush didn't come to my face, but his eyes locked with mine, just studying my face. He lifted a hand, stroking my cheek with his thumb, and there I sat, like a bag of shit, unable to move or tear my eyes away from his face. He pulled my hair out of its bun, running both his hands through it. My pulse quickened, his eyes going half lidded, his invisible pupils watching my lips. Oh dear.  
"Umm...I have to meet Ella." I lied, scrambling away from him, running through the woods, tears running down my face. Why was I so scared. I shouldn't be thinking about my ex when the most human vampire guy I had ever met was going to kiss me as the sun was coming up over the horizon, and I had to be Max and run away, leaving everything I wanted behind. I wiped my sleeve across my eyes, and tripped over a tree root, landing flat on my face on the wet leaves of the forest floor. Thanks for that, karma. I gathered my breath, pushing myself up off the wet ground. I picked a wet leaf off my thigh, taking a step forward as I dropped it, but ran my head into a hard chest. I leaped backwards, but seeing as it was only Fang, I relaxed.  
"What the hell, Fang!" I hissed, and he just looked at me silently. He stepped closer to me.  
"You're not really meeting Ella, are you?" He said in a low, almost angry voice. I drew away from him, trying not to make eye contact.  
"Are you?" He asked again a little louder. I whipped my head forward to look at him, his eyes fiery.  
"Why do you care!" I hissed back at him, and he crossed his arms over his chest. Saying plainly.  
"Because you're mine until I let you go." My personality wanted me to scoff at him, but somehow it was incredibly flattering. Fang wanted me to be with him? I should have been the last thing he would want.  
"Why?" I found myself asking in a breathy, seductive voice. Holy cats. Maximum Ride was anything but seductive last time I checked. He took my hands, drawing me closer, but not in a pushy way, his face close to mine, eyes locked and half lidded. He chuckled, breath hot on my neck.  
"Because you're so...you." He said, his eyes closing, looking peaceful. Before I could stop myself, I wound my fingers around his neck and pulled his lips to mine. His eyes flew open, before closing and pulling my body closer to him, his hands on my waist, smirking against my lips. Suddenly, I totally didn't regret anything. I wound my fingers into his soft hair, pulling it slightly, his hands sliding under my leather jacket to rest on my sharp hipbones through my blue and white striped shirt. His body warm on my frigid skin.

Unknown P.O.V.  
I watched as they pulled each other closer, her hands tangling in his hair, his hands wandering over her back and sides. How much would I have paid to be able to touch her, much less talk to her? Years after first seeing her and she just now reappeared, after disappearing off the map. Here she was, and how dare he touch her! She would never belong with him, be happy. She needed me, everything I could give her.  
If I could only talk to her. I dropped down out of the trees, sprinting out of the woods, ending up in front of a dumpster. I punched it as hard as I could, screaming as a tear marched down my cheek. I raked my hands through my hair, pulling on it hard, yelling again. I removed my hands from my head, chunks of hair in between my fingers. She would be mine. I saw her first, did everything in my power to make her available to be mine and HE took her away from me. I continued to recall every sighting of her, every whiff of her intoxicating scent, every strand of her hair she left on a car door or carpet. Such perfection drove one mad.


	6. Ella

Chapter 6: Ella

I groaned, staring at the T.V. as Spongebob and Patrick were in a prop store or something buying invisible spray. I chuckled slightly, it seemed like something Max and I would have done as kids. I sighed remembering, we were like peas in a pod, and she had tons of friends back then. Everyone loved my cousin Max, outgoing, brave, hilarious. Every kid in the neighborhood wanted to be her friend. But I was shy little Ella, watching the marvelous Max from a distance as she played football with boys and had tea parties with the other girls. Despite being family, we seemed horribly different.  
One day one of the bad boys tried to beat me up, but Max came to my defense, cussing the boy out as bad as a ten year old could and beat him to tears on the pavement.

"What a great way to start a friendship." I thought to myself, we were best friends after that, inseparable. She even let me hold baby angel, with her short, curly blonde hair and feathery purple eyelids.  
Then the incident happened. All I knew at the time were that the loud sirens and lights were outside Max's house, standing outside with my mom, her clinging onto my skinny arm. I watched confused as two long black bags were pulled out of the house, loaded into an ambulance with the sirens off. A stretcher came out next. My nine year old mind instantly recognized my best friend, her pajama dress and hair caked in her own blood, her little carried out next, screaming and crying in her blanket. I shrieked as they loaded Max into an ambulance, as tears rolled down my cheeks and I strained against my mother's arm to go to her.

When the ambulance drove away I just sat down. My mom was handed baby angel, who settled into the arms of her aunt, only three at the time and oblivious to what was going on.

When Max came home three days later, She was the only one who came back. I wondered where her parents were, why they hadn't come back for their two daughters.

I quickly brushed the memory away, not wanting to remember. I flicked of the T.V., genuinely bored. I thought were were killing a small population of vampires, but Max hadn't said anything about them yet. Maybe she just wanted a friend, I wouldn't blame her, always alone with only Angel to keep her company. But it wasn't really in her personality to be very social anymore. I huffed, got out of the overstuffed leather chair. I was bored, and the mall and excessive shopping always solves that. I went into Max's room and pulled a white leather purse with gold metal out of my overstuffed suitcase. I emptied all my stuff out of my purse I used when I first came here, and organized all of it into the white bag. I dug through the bag some more, finding one of my favorite pair of floral skinny jeans and an oversize black sweater.

I went into the bathroom across the hall from Max's room, changing into the clothes, pulling my curly hair up into a messy bun, applying only mascara and a fine line of brown eyeliner. Satisfied with my appearance, I grabbed my bag, and headed out the door.

But I didn't have a way to get there. I swore silently inside my head, went outside and leaned against the building, taking out my phone and texting Max asking where she was. A girl wearing practically nothing but a skirt, a cropped tank top, huge sunglasses and bright red lipstick came outside and lit a blunt, standing next to me. I tried to hold my breath and take tiny intakes of the smoke. Ugh, smokers always bothered me. Max messaged me back, saying I could take her car after she came home if I would pick up Angel for her. I replied saying I would, when the girl standing next to me asks in a weirdly smooth voice,

"You know the girl in room 117?" I take in a silent sharp breath through my nose. 117 was Max's room.

"So?" I asked her, narrowing my eyes at her, her dark glasses not even giving me a glimpse or shape of her eyes. She smiled at me, revealing a set of perfectly straight, but yellow teeth.

"I'm just an old friend who wants a bit of a chat." I swung my purse over my other shoulder, I was sure this person was either a drug dealer or an old enemy, definitely not a friend. Even if she was a friend, I would have known. At that moment, Max pulled into the parking lot, the soft roar of the engine signaling her entrance before she even pulled up. I strode away from the still smiling girl, still feeling her eyes digging into my back through her dark glasses. Max got out, her eyes landing on me, before traveling past me, her jaw hardening, I turned to see what she was looking at, but turned back to her popping the trunk, I turned back around to see what she was looking at, but the girl with the yellow teeth was standing right in front of me, a little too close for comfort.  
That was she started to change.

Her mouth elongated, the jaw itself flexing to become longer, her teeth elongating to become two inches long and dagger-like. I brought my knee up to hit her between the legs, a blow not only reserved for guys. She shrieked, me catching the full wind of her rancid breath to the face. I turned and ran behind Max, and when the girl thing bolted lightning fast at her, she plunged the dagger through its chest, through the sternum, her momentum pulling the girl up off the ground, her legs dangling two feet above the ground, her blood splattered over Max's face and chest. I squeaked, and the girl looked shocked, her neck twitching. Max lowered her arms, dumping the dying girl on the ground, her body sliding of the end of the dagger. Once she hit the ground, her skin became rocky, her hands pressed to her wound, her mouth open, gasping for air in empty mouthfuls. Her glasses had slid off her nose, revealing yellow and red eyes rimmed with hungry, popping veins. I had never seen this type of vampire, but there's no telling how many Max had seen on her lifetime.

"Get her legs." Max instructed me, as her body began to stiffen, I took hold of her cold ankles, and max took her arms which were now rock hard over her chest. We dragged her to the middle of the parking lot, like what we were doing was a totally normal thing, that is if no one saw us. We dropped her in the middle of the parking lot, and Max searched the pocket of her tiny skirt, finding an engraved lighter.  
The girl groaned and turned her head towards Max,

"What are you doing?" She asked, her teeth clicking together when she spoke. Max didn't reply, her face impassive when she flicked on the lighter on the underside of the girls elbow. It instantly burst into flame, and the girl shrieked an unnatural scream, her jaw so wide it looked like it was disconnected from her body. I stepped back, disgusted, her whole body took flame, burning easily. Max tapped my elbow.

"Lets get out of here. Where ya goin?" I was once again amazed at how chill she could be after the killing of a vampire. I shook the thought away.

"Just the mall, do you want to come?" I asked, shooting her a devious smile, she could have avoided the situation by not asking, but since she asked I would force her to go.

"I don't have a choice in this one do I?" She asked, facepalming.

"Nope!" I replied happily, and she walked across the parking lot, away from the nonhuman bonfire behind us and got into her car. I got into the drivers side and she handed me the keys, and I started the car. It roared to life loudly, and I suppressed a smile, Max really did have the best car. I pulled out of the lot, and Max wiped the blood off her face with a makeup wipe that I kept in my bag.

"Shit." Max cursed under her breath.

"I got blood all over my shirt, I liked this shirt!" She whined. Her pierce the veil cutoff dinosaur treeshirt was indeed covered in tiny droplets of blood.

"I'll wash it when we get home." I offered, and she nodded, pulling the shirt over her head, Grabbing another dark blue one from the backseat, this one had ribbing on the back and a yellow and orange iguana was stamped on the front. She had gotten it when my mom won a vacation for five to go to the Cayman islands. Angel had dragged Max to an Iguana farm, where Max bought the shirt. It still sorta smelled like Iguana pee, but I didn't say anything.  
I leaned back in the leather chair and drove us to the mall, Max whining about how slow I drove the whole way there.

"I'm going the speed limit." I told her, and she gave me a shifty sideways glance.

"How old are you? Eighty?" she asked and I chuckled, I tucked my lips over my teeth, saying in a crackly voice.

"My applesauce!" She snorted, leaning her head on the window, looking a little dreamy. Nosey mode activated.

"So Maxie." She glared a weak glare at me, silently daring me to call her Maxie again and not lose my eyes.

"Where didja go this morning?" I asked, not trying to be overly interested, keeping my eyes on the road. Her face went impassive, meaning she was trying to hide something that I would definitely find interesting.

"I unintentionally met a friend." I smiled evilly and Max groaned again.

"And who was this friend." I asked, unable to hide the grin on my face.

"Fang..." She grumbled, almost inaudibly, but my squeal pierced the air, making her grimace.

"Oh my god! You guys would be, like, perfect for each other if you weren't so hostile." She banged her head against the car window, and to my surprise the

glass didn't shatter.

"I'll take that as you don't agree..." I asked, and she looked at me incredulously.

"yep." we rode in silence the rest of the way to the mall, Max sitting in a slouched position next to me, arms folded over her chest and a pout on her face, as if agonized by the slow speed we were making to the equally hated mall.  
when we got there, Max flung open the door, effectively lost her footing in her shoes, and fell to the pavement with a loud, "Smack!"

"Shit Max!" I swore, as she groaned and pulled herself up off the ground. I slammed my door and locked the car, pulling my purse into the crook of my elbow. I offered her my hand, which she took, and pulled her off the ground. She wobbled for a second in her shoes, before dusting off her black jeans and giving me a cautious smile. Max was wearing cosmic litas, totally cool, but she pulled them off perfectly.

"Come on. Lets get this over with." She dusted off her pants and followed me grudgingly into the mall, grumbling about the events of the day hating her.


	7. Iggy

Hi Guys! So I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long time, but hey, heres my update. I know this chapter sucks and a lot of people may have wanted me to progress on Max and Fangs relationship but I needed to post this chapter for future references. Thanks for reading!

~Rico

Chapter 7: Iggy  
I took another bite out of my salted, cheese covered pretzel. Through my sunglasses, people walked past me, not paying me any attention, or suspicion. No that I wanted any, I was just mostly surprised that no one thought it was weird that I was wearing sunglasses at night. I sighed and stuffed the rest of the pretzel into my mouth, washing it down with the water bottle filled with whiskey I kept with me. Nudge and Lissa always gripped on Fang and me for drinking in public, but hey, we could do worse.  
I stuffed the water bottle back into my backpack, before scooping it up and flinging it over my shoulder. I walked towards the Zumiez at the center of the huge mall. I walked past an entrance, a tall hispanic girl wearing a oversized red sweater and floral pants dragged another slightly taller dirty blonde girl by the wrist, her face twisted into a scowl, other than that, they were both gorgeous.  
I straightened up slightly, keeping my pace steady but tuning in on their quiet conversation.  
"So he just led you into the woods? And you went with him willingly." The hispanic girl said doubtfully.  
"More like carried against my will, sprinting, chased by a ginger." The blonde girl answered her carefully, as if watching her words very carefully.  
"A ginger? Why was there a ginger?" The other girl asked, a small smile probably curving on her lips.  
"A stalker or something. Its not like I asked her." The blonde girl said softly, before turning sharply, dragging her protesting friend into the store to her right. I looked into the window of where they disappeared, and were I was headed. "It has to be, like, destiny!" Nudge would have squealed in this situation. I pushed past the black tinted window, the cashier greeting me loudly, a girl on a ladder that went up to a loft with snowboards hanging off it called down to me,  
"Hi Iggy!" She called, the blush on her cheeks visible even from where I was standing on the threshold. I saluted to her and went over to where the shoes were on display. I had nearly worn holes through the soles of my current skate shoes, black with green and purple Osrises. I looked at the shoes of the clear stands, settling almost instantly on a pair that looked exactly like the ones I already had, just not as beat up. I kneeled down, looking for my size. I heard a heartbeat next to me, my muscles tensing, before relaxing almost instantly, no one with a heartbeat could hurt me. the person cleared her throat, and I turned to look at her. I was looking up at the hispanic girl with her dark hair pulled away from her face, a single piece hanging down between her caramel colored eyes. I felt my breath catch in my throat when her cheeks reddened slightly when I didn't say anything.  
"I um, need the forrest green Vans In a seven." She said, shy. I scooted over, and she kneeled down next to me, searching for the right color.  
"Green is a good color on you." I blurted trying to make conversation. She smiled slightly, looking down at the box in her hands.  
"You too." She replied, she brushed her warm arm against mine. She yanked her elbow away, bristling slightly, her eyes changing. Confused, I stood with her, she refused to make eye contact with me.  
"Hey are you okay?" I asked, reaching towards her, but she drew away, turning and walking back to where the blonde girl was pulling a dark purple Zine hoodie over her head. I frowned, pulling the new Osiris's, and packed my old ones into the box. The girl was leaving with her friend, how had they checked out already? I quickly bought my shoes, and followed the hispanic girl through the hordes of people in the mall. She dragged her blonde friend towards a back exit.  
I followed them out of the back exit, only to be shoved against the hard brick outside of the mall by the blonde girl, a wooden stake pressed up against my throat, keeping my head back against the wall.  
"Who are you." The blonde girl snarled in my face. I didn't say anything, but locked eyes with the hispanic girl, still not making eye contact with me.  
"Iggy." I ground out, looking back at the blonde girl, who had begin to lean into the stake, putting pressure on my neck. She laughed, as if my name was funny. Well it sort of was.  
"Bullshit, what's your name." I glared at her, she sighed her breath in warm prickles on my chest. Her eyes widened slightly.  
"Ella, be on you toes." Oh, so Ella was her name...Pretty. I felt my skin crawl, a feeling of nostalgia and the taste of blood spreading through my body. I felt my vision enhance, locking onto the tall blonde girl. I pressed my back against the wall, I threw off my sunglasses, covering my hands with my eyes. The veins around my eyes stood out sharply, my eyes probably turning from blue to yellow rimmed with red and orange, my eight (four extra teeth) canines elongating and becoming hollow. My whole body felt dry, like a starched plant, the way I normally felt before a feed, but this was different. Almost like the whole skin was reaching towards the blonde girl and dry out every drop of her blood.  
No I didn't want this.  
My hands dropped involuntarily, seeing the two girls with shock on their faces. Ella turned, running backwards for a few steps, before turning and sprinting away. The blonde stepped between me and her, the stake clenched in here first. I bolted around her, ripping the stake from her hand, tossing it far into the parking lot. She turned, bringing her heel into my face with a roundhouse kick that would have shattered my jaw. I stumbled back, my body refusing to fall, mind blank with hunger. She uppercut my jaw again, a jump kick whipping my head back.  
Each hit she landed to my face would be a one hit K.O. to a normal person, but I wasn't exactly a normal person. I caught her fist before it came into contact with my face, squeezing her fist. She gasped, her mouth open in pain. I released her hand, shoving her by her shoulders into the wall, the back of her head hitting the wall with a smack. I leaned into her shoulders, my lips curling back away from my teeth. She squirmed under my hold, but I pushed harder into her shoulders.  
I traced on her neck where the artery would be under her white, satiny skin. The blood pulsed under my thumb, my breath coming out in a hiss, the scent of her blood becoming neurotic. I brought my teeth down, but before I could pierce her skin, I got a hold of myself.  
Pushing myself away so hard I fell, but turned, swiping up my sunglasses, I sprinted away as I could from there. A.K.A my car at the other side of the mall to where I parked my car.  
I balanced myself out of the trunk of my car, looking at my reflection in the flat top of the trunk. The veins around my eyes had vanished back under my skin, my eyes still a dark shade of yellow. I dragged my hands down my face. I hadn't lost control in a long time, and this wasn't exactly a pleasant surprise. I could easily have killed her on the spot, almost did too.  
I walked around to the drivers side, getting in and starting it up. What about that girl made my senses react so suddenly. I drove out of the parking lot, the tips of my fingers and the pit of my stomach tingle and feel hot, like being high almost, just a little more twisted and inhuman. I drove into the parking garage across from Louis's Pawn shop after fifteen minutes of driving in the midday sun.  
I checked my eyes in the mirror, still yellow and red rimmed. Damn, I looked high, high and like I had just fed. Nudge would be all over me about drugs and stuff, she never liked that stuff. I groaned, rubbing my eyes, before putting my dark sunglasses back on and walking down the stairs of the garage and across the street to the back of the shop to the batcave door, not even bothering to get my backpack and old shoes out of the trunk.  
I ran down the concrete stairs, stuffing my keys into my pocket. I ran across the busy back street, narrowly missing being hit by a car.  
I tried the front door of the shop, but it didn't budge. I kicked the bulletproof glass and walked around to the back of the shop to the batcave back entrance. I pushed through the iron doors, into the dark back room. I walked forward, pulling my sunglasses off from ever my eyes, and made my way past all the old restaurant crap to the back of the room. The front of Louis's pawn shop used to be a restaurant, a nice italian one at that. But then they built the new downtown area of redwater and everyone forgot about the cute little traditional places in the outskirts. I pushed through the wood door, the sudden light of the antique lights blinding against my eyes, even with my sunglasses on. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I peeled my sunglasses off, the light once again making my eyes throb and head pound. I leaned against the wall, rubbing my eyes and blinking against the light. I blinked my eyes open, A concerned Gazzy coming into view.  
"Woa, Your eyes look real bad." He said, snapping closed the ancient looking book on his lap and set it down with a thud on the carved wood and glass coffee table.  
"Where's Fang?" I asked, looking around the room to see if Nudge was hiding anywhere.  
"Out, dunno what he's been up to, Maybe he took Lissa somewhere." He trailed off, Coming closer and taking a look at my eyes. Like Gazzy, my eyes glowed yellow and red, But Fang Has grey, almost white eyes during transformation.  
Fang was an original, we all knew it, he and his brother were the only originals. but something happened between them that drove a stake between their, "Brothership" or whatever. He could do better without us hanging around him, but I think he liked the company after his brother abandoned him.  
"Nudge isn't here, is she?" I asked, and Gazzy blew off my question.  
"Damn, What on earth did you eat? Your eyes aren't even showing signs of reverting." I groaned, flopping down on one of the antique couches.  
"Nothing, maybe I'm just dying!" I said dramatically, and Gazzy just rolled his eyes.  
"I think you'll be fine." He walked away towards the wooden cabinet we kept drinks and stuff in. Gazzy opened the bottom cabinet, taking a blood bag out of a bucket of ice, Tossing it across the room to me. I swiped it out of the air, playing with the bag a little bit while I read the label. It read B positive, my favorite, well played Gazzy.  
"Eat, Maybe that will help." I shrugged, Popping the top of the bag, the smell igniting the hunger deep in my stomach again, I emptied half the bag into a cup on the coffee table that I had used this morning. I picked up the cup and tipped it back, pouring the whole of contents down my throat. I leaned back forward, the skin in my face tightening and the veins showing through the skin. My instincts taking over, I grabbed the rest of the blood bag, sucking the rest of it dry. I tossed the empty bag across the table, leaning forwards into my hands, rubbing the taunt veins until they relaxed, my vision slowly returning to normal. Gazzy came and sat down next to me.  
"You Better man?" He asked, And I nodded, looking at him with normal vision.  
"Yeah, Better."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: MAX

I took in a deep breath, leaning my head back against the cold brick wall. Ella ran back up to me, asking if I was okay with wide eyes. I nodded, not able to respond, my heart pounding against my ribcage.

"What the hell was that?" She asked, and I looked at her, confused.

"Huh?" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, half her messy bun falling out of its tie.

"What's with that guy? Like, Some mutant vampire?" She asked looking peeved, and a little bit hurt at the same time.

"Dunno." I responded, pushing myself off the wall, And walking towards where I had parked my car. She walked quickly after me, and got in on the drivers side, tense. We drove home, not saying anything to each other. but It wasn't an angry silence, it was more a solemn one, deep in thought. Sort of realizing what we were up against.

We pulled up in front of my apartment building, only to be greeted by a dark figure leaning up against his black Mustang, a frown over his chiseled features. Ella parked, and we rushed towards the building.

"Max!" Fang called, and Ella turned and smiled at him, but I looped my elbow around hers and yanked her towards the door. He jogged towards us, calling out to me again. I turned to glare at him, but he was gone. I turned, to walk back to the doors, but I ran headfirst into his chest.

"Watch It." He growled, and I felt my face heat up.

"Don't do that." I said, folding my arms over my chest, glaring at him, But he just half-smiled at me. Ella snickered, elbowing me in the side.

"What's eating at you Maxie?" Fang asked, and I frowned at him again, opening my mouth to tell him I had just gotten beat by a mutant vampire, but Ella cut me off softly.

"Lets discuss it over coffee!" She said, bouncing in place excitedly. I rolled my eyes, and nodded, letting us into the grungy building. I pushed past a blonde guy flirting with another sketchy looking girl sitting in one of the ugly leather chairs. He didn't say anything, but I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head. I turned to see Fang ram his shoulder into the guys shoulder a little harder than necessary. My eyes widened slightly,

"Fang!" I said sharply, and he shot me an innocent look. I turned, Ella following behind me, we made our way up to my apartment. I opened the door, peering around cautiously before flicking on the lights and tossing my keys into the bowl on the counter. Fang paused before walking through the threshold. Ella took a seat at one of the bar stools, and I went into the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge.

"What are you so serious business about?" Fang asked, and I tried to smooth out the frown. He smirked at me, and I blushed darkly, it was just this morning that we kissed in the woods, before he bolted away from me, leaving me confused in the woods.

"We were attacked, at the mall." I said, unscrewing the top of my water and taking a swig. He froze, and Ella plopped down on the stool next to me.

"What do you remember from them?" He asked, his voice cold, not like it was when he usually talked to me. Ella swiped my water bottle from me, drinking half of it in record time.

"Male, Sandy blonde hair, icy eyes, about six five, wearing a red diamond sweatshirt, new purple and green osiris's." I prattled off mechanically, Fang set his jaw, and I continued.

"I initiated combat." With that, Fang turned and left through the door without another word. What was with him? Was it something I said? Ella cleared her throat again, and I looked at her.

"Its three thirty." She said, taking another sip from my water bottle. I groaned, grabbing my keys from the bowl. Angel was done with school at three forty five, and I didn't need Fang staying over for dinner again.

"I need to get really, really drunk." I said flatly, and Ella chuckled softly, throwing the plastic water bottle in the recycling. She threw me a mischievous look as I slammed my head into the marble counter top a little harder than necessary.

"Do you want me to go pick up Angel and you can veg out here? No alcohol with Angel in the house, okay? You're still underage." She said, and I nodded, my forehead still resting on the cold counter top. She scooped my keys out of the bowl and slammed the door, her quiet humming fading as she walked down the hallway. I huffed and pushed myself up off the counter. Ignoring Ella's advice, I grabbed a bottle of scotch from under the sink and made my way to the bathroom to take a shower, and locking the door behind me. I turned on the water in the shower, peeling off my clothes and stepping under the hot water.

I sighed as the hot water washed over my skin, I opened the glass door, grabbing the bottle from off the wood stool with my towels, unscrewed the top, and took a gulp of the cool liquid from the bottle, grimacing a little as it burned down my throat. I put the cap back on, closing the door again and shampooed my hair, gently rubbing my scalp in little circles. I rinsed out the shampoo and conditioned my hair, reaching out of the shower door for the bottle but it was tipped over, the contents running over the edge of the stool and onto the linoleum floor. I quickly rinsed out the rest of my hair and turned off the shower. Quietly, I wrapped a towel around my body and crept into the hall, picking up the empty bottle as a meager weapon. I neared the kitchen, hearing rummaging and the sound of a plate shattering on the floor followed by muffled cursing stopping me dead in my tracks.

From my crouched position, my shoulder pressed against the hall wall, I watched in the reflection of the huge mirror in the hall as a hooded figure rummaged through my kitchen, brushing past my mothers valuable china and the change pot underneath the sink. I noted the front door, half open and no damage to the wood.

"Fang?" I called out quietly to the figure, just in case it was him. The figure froze, before whipping around to face me, piercing blue eyes scanning all around the apartment before catching mine in the reflection of the mirror. They widened slightly, before narrowing and bolting for the door, I sprinted out of my hiding spot, hitting him over the head with the bottle clutched in my fist.

It shattered, but the masculine figure didn't even cry out, even with pieces of glass sticking into the back of his hooded head, and disappeared down the hallway and hopefully out of my apartment, a little faster than humanly possible. I sank to my knees in the shards of glass, not even flinching when the tiny glass slivers sunk into my damp knees. Some random vampire had just broken into my house. It couldn't have been Fang, he would have let himself in, but I doubt he would have. I stayed kneeling in the glass, not moving until Ella got home. Someone was going to pay for breaking into my territory.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Fang

I burst through the metal door to my Fang-cave. The light from the oriental lamps temporarily blinding me, but I growled deep in my throat and Nudges blurry outline appeared in front of me.

"Where Is he!" I growled loudly, and She flinched a little, my lips curling back away from my elongating teeth.

"You need to calm down." Nudge said to me, trying to sound calm, but her eyes were flashing, she knew I would go into a rage if I got my hands on Iggy.

"Where is he!" I shouted again, over her voice, and she shoved me back as Gazzy appeared out from his doorway.

"Calm down Fang!" Nudge shouted at me, her calm demeanor shattered, I shoved past her and into Iggys room, where the lights were off but his outline was easily seen in the bar of light from the doorway, surrounded with drained blood bags, his hands tangled in his hair.  
I growled deep in my throat and tackled him off his bed, trying to pin him to the floor, but he thrashed under me and landed a hard blow to my stomach with his knee.

"What the hell Iggy." I hissed, his eyes burning a burning yellow rimmed with red, the veins around his eyes still purple and strained. He pushed against me fruitlessly.

"Just let me explain." He growled, not even trying to make eye contact with me. I released him, sitting up on his bed among the empty bags with my arms crossed over my chest. He had better have a good excuse for attacking Max and Ella. He leaned against the wall, cradling his head in his hands.

"You have five minutes." I told him shortly, and he glared at me.

"I saw a pretty girl, I tried to talk to her, she did weird things, and walked away. I tried to follow her but her blonde friend attacked me and my body tried to feed on her and I threw myself away and now my eyes won't revert and i'm starving!" Iggy yelled, his eyes blazing. I picked up a handful of the empty blood bags, throwing them in a garbage bin next to Iggys bed.

"Tell me everything that happened." I said, not offering him any warmth. He attacked Max, and I needed to know why. Iggy groaned and leaned forwards, pulling his legs up to rest his elbows on.

"Thats the thing! I don't know what happened, I just wanted to talk to the Brunette girl when The blonde attacked me. Its not like I wanted to feed on them, You've got to believe me." Iggy said before dropping his head in his arms again, hiding his glowing yellow eyes. I stood off his bed and looked around his room,

"Clean up in here and stick around for a few days, see if that makes a difference."  
Iggy nodded with his head in his arms, and I scooped a few more blood bags into the garbage, before leaving the dark room. Nudge walked with me away from the door and to where I plopped down on one of the couches, propping my feet up on the coffee table.

"What are you going to do about it?" Nudge asked, her eyes wide and worried. She probably thought Iggy attacked a random person in public and now we would have to relocate for the first time in fifty years.

"Nothing, I know the girl who he attacked." I let slip, before immediately catching myself, but keeping a steady face. Nudges eyes would have fallen out of their sockets if they had gotten any wider, before a huge grin spread over her face.

"It was that Max girl you told us about, isn't it!" She continued to squeal and run excitedly around the room, and I leaned back and tipped a glass of leftover vodka from the coffee table down my throat.

"So what?" I growled, pretending nonchalance. Nudge screeched to a stop behind the couch across from me, mouth hanging open. "What do you mean, so what?" She screeched even louder, her hands now grasping the polished wood of the sofa, her eyes ready to fall out of their sockets, Gazzy standing unsure with a sprite in his hand in the corner, shifting uneasily from foot to foot every time Nudges voice went up an octave. I just shrugged, and Nudge released the sofa from her death grip on it, her whole body sagging, and she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well no wonder she doesn't like you, you totally suck." I bolted upright, glaring at her, silently daring her to say that again. She folded her arms over her chest looking satisfied, before I sunk back into the couch, trying to show her that I still had the weak upper hand in this conversation.

"She probably thinks you're gay or something, knowing the way you probably act around her."

"I'm not gay!" I yelled back at her, and Gazzy mock gasped and dramatically flopped on the couch in front of Nudge, the back of his hand to his forehead, sloshing soda on the floor.

"But, I thought we had something Fang!" I glowered at him, as he mock sobbed into the silk throw pillows, and Nudge covered her laugh with her hand. Iggy appeared from his room, several glasses in his hands,

"What's this nonsense about Fang being straight?" He said, beginning to rinse out a cup in the bar sink, a wicked smile over his lips, his eyes looking strangely out of place and angry in his usually joking face, but the heavy veins were beginning to recede.

"I'm not gay!" I roared again, and Nudge looked at me suppressed.

"I don't think you have ever been so loud. Keep it down, Fangles." I let my head fall into my hands, at least they distracted me from thinking of the outside world. and at least Lissa wasn't here to scream about how I wasn't gay because I was her eternal love.  
I smiled behind my hands, not wanting to let Nudge see that she was humoring me, or that I was smiling. I peeled my hands away from my face and put my impassive mask back on, just as the door burst open and Lissa stumbled into the room with a drunk human with an arm draped over her shoulders, as she balked at us and gingerly made her way around the couches with her human staggering googly eyed behind her.

Iggy turned quick and got back to rinsing out the cups, hiding his eyes as Lissa dragged the drunk human down the hall and into her bedroom. Nudge turned to me with a sneer on her face, and shoved Gazzy's legs off the couch to sit next to him on the couch with a huff.

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" She asks, Gazzy groaning and sitting up, taking a swing out of his soda and setting it down on the table. Iggy chuckles from the bar, setting the last of the cups upside down on a towel next to the sink to dry.

"Not in Lissa's case." He said, coming to sit next to me with a smile on his face.

"I thought she was, so desperately in love with Fang I would do anything for him!" Gazzy said dramatically, imitating her voice perfectly. Nudge snickered and stole his can of soda, taking a sip from it. As we spoke, a male cry from down the hall filled the room. I flinched as his horrified screams grew weaker and faded, my stomach churning sickeningly again. Iggy's eyes widened and he bolted into his room, slamming and locking the door. Nudge rolled her eyes and Gazzy swiped his soda back from her and hurriedly chugged the rest of it down.

The irony smell of blood flooded the room, and I stood.  
"Tell Lissa she had better get the stains out of her carpet and dispose of the body neatly this time." I growled under my breath, and Nudge raised an eyebrow at me. I turned and went past Lissa's room and into my own, the overpowering smell of blood behind the door and the indistinguishable ripping of flesh behind the door.

I took a deep breath and took a heavy step past the door, walking quickly into my own room and slamming the door, and leaning against it in the dark, trying to clear the bloody smell from my nose, and standing and walking back into the darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Max.

By the time Ella got home to find me crouching in a puddle of tiny glass shards, I was boiling mad. She just stared at me for a second, in the middle of the kitchen floor with just a towel on, before screaming about what sort of things I do when she leaves. Angel just snickered at me and took off her backpack, grabbed a broom, and began sweeping around me to I could stand up and move away from the glass.

"Did you just break a bottle over your head of something?" She asked quickly, almost to the point of hyperventilation. I just shrugged.

"Well, not my head." Her jaw dropped, and she took the broom from Angel, who just rolled her eyes as Ella began frantically sweeping, and went to her room with backpack in tow.

"Whose head then?" She asked me sarcastically, all the glass gathered into a little pile in the middle of the floor.

"I didn't get much from its face." Ella froze. As if catching that I had said it, and not he or she.

"You mean a vampire broke into your apartment?" I shivered uncomfortably in my towel. Ella swept the glass into a scoop and dumped it into the garbage, and slumped into a chair as I sat next to her.

"Well, I guess." I said, and she just smirked at me.  
"You're sure you didn't just whack Fang, and then scared him away?" I sat up straight, glaring at her angrily.

"He had blue eyes, piercing blue eyes, I'm sure I saw the rest of his face, but his eyes were like mesmerizing in a very bad way. He was hearing a black hoodie over his hair, exactly seven inches taller than me, sketchy black combat boots, smelled like iron and smoke. Is that good enough of a description for a three second encounter?" I hissed, before shoving myself out of my chair and stomped down the hall to my room, and closing the door behind me. I yanked on black thermal leggings and a blue hoodie, not even bothering to brush my hair, but just yanked it up into a damp bun on top of my head.  
I just sat angrily on my bed with my hands clenching the brown bedspread angrily, jaw clenched and staring straight ahead of me to the wall covered in my guns. I flopped back onto my bed and shrieked like a banshee into one of my pillows.  
I was getting hungry, and tired, and restless. I rolled off my bed, and over to my wall, taking my guns from this morning back in their spots, reloading my handgun and carefully pouring a vile of vervain back into a plastic water bottle. I stretched my back as I made my way back into the kitchen, where Angel had her homework spread out on the kitchen table and Ella was stirring ground beef in a pan for tacos. My stomach grumbled and Ella sent me a mocking smile.  
I could never stay angry at Ella for more than five minutes. I sighed, and Angel tugged on my sleeve,  
"What do you know about the bisector of A x c?" She asked, her face scrunched up and her eyes never leaving her geometry book.  
"Uhh." I said, beginning to dissect the problem in my head. Ella turned off the burners as I finished explaining Angels mistake, and she nodded furiously and quickly rewrote the equation.  
I squirmed in my chair as Ella scooped out the steaming meat onto homemade corn tortillas. She turned and laughed at me.  
"Jeez, Max, when was the last time you ate? Only like four hours ago?" She said, sprinkling cheese and refried beans over the meat. Angel pushed her books off the table and went into the kitchen to get glasses, and I took my plate from the counter and dipped my finger in the beans that Ella also dished onto the side of my plate.  
"Max!" She scolded me, and I jumped a little bit, plunking my plate down onto the kitchen table a little too hard. She rolled her eyes at me and angel poured me a glass of milk, sliding into her chair next to me.  
"Sorry." I grumbled, and Ella simply smiled at me and sat down across from me with her own plate. As soon as she hit her chair Angel and I tore into our tacos. I had finished my second when angel was halfway through her second and Ella had only taken a few bites into her first. Ella pretended to gag as I sat down with my second plate of tacos.  
"I think I may be sick, watching you two eat." Angel sent her a smile, with her cheeks puffed up with the last of her second taco. Ella rolled her eyes and took another bite out of her taco.  
"You must feel so flattered though, having someone love your cooking so much." Angel reasoned with Ella with her mouth full. Ella laughed at Angels comment,  
"Yeah, feeding the pair of you two animals is wonderful." She said pointing at me accusingly, and I dropped my taco to hold up my hands in mock surrender. She smirked and ate a spoonful of beans.  
I smiled and looked down at my food.  
Feeling like family.  
-LINE-

I sat down at my booth at Mocha Lisa, the same one I had sat at when I met Fang here a while ago. I checked the time on my phone, nervously drumming my fingers on the side of my coffee cup.

I had gone on a bit of a rampage last night when Ella and angel went to sleep, using a rag dipped in vervain on all doorknobs, handles, t.v. buttons, wiping down counters, toilets, seat handles, lock knobs, and window latches.

I took a sip from my coffee cup, the hot coffee perking up my senses. I put my cup down and opened my eyes...

I jumped in place, almost knocking over my cup at Fang, sitting across the table from me with a smirk on his face. I let out a breath and sunk my face into my hands.

"At least give me a warning next time." I whined, and Fang let out a small laugh.

"But I like scaring you." I sat up, taking a wary sip out of my cup, watching him over the brim. A few old ladies at a table across the room from us pointed and looked pleased. Fang looked in the direction of my eyes, seeing the ladies, and looked back at me innocently. Damn his good hearing.

"So Maxie."

"Its just Max." I corrected him, and he half-smiled triumphantly. I sighed, knowing he would call me Maxie no matter what.

"So Maxie." He said, drawing out the Maxie.

"Why did you come back." He asked, popping the lid off his metal coffe cup, letting out a wisp of steam and the sweet smell of his caramel latte. I sent a hurried glance arund the cafe, looking for Lissa. I elaned closer to Fang and talked in a low voice.

"How many vampires do you know who live in Red-water?" I asked, and Fang casualy took a sip of his drink, a little cream lingering on his upper lip before he licked it off.

"Asside from my family, none that I know of." I frowned and looked down at my hands.

"Someone broke into my house." I said, and Fangs head whipped up.

"What makes you think they weren't human?" He asks, and I take another sweep around the room.

"I hit them over the head with a bottle." Fang chuckled and leaned back in the booth, his black hair covering one eye. I cracked a small smile, I guess it did sound sort of funny saying it to someone else.

"Any other reasong you came here?" Fang asked, and I held up my coffee cup.

"I didn't really get much sleep." For a second, he looked disappointed, but it only lasted for a fraction of a second.

"What did you think I came here for?" I asked, leaning forward, and he looked a little caught off guard, and leaned forward, closer to my face.

"Dude, we made out in the woods." He whispered, looking at my forehead and not my eyes. I tensed up.

"I was hoping we could forget about that." I said, and leaned back, not wanting to look Fang in the face.

"Why?" he asked, and I flicked my eyes to his. His jaw was tight and his hand was clenched around his coffee cup.

"Um. Lets go to my apartment." I said, scooping up my bag and Fang followed my motions. We walked out to my car and I threw my purse into the trunk. I looked around for Fangs black mustang but didn't see it.

"How did you get here?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"Walked." I rolled my eyes and unlocked the car. He got in on the passenger seat, and took a quick glance around my car. I subconsciously looked around, catching sight of a few extra clothes in the backseat and a knot blanket.

"Where did you get your car?" Fang asked, looking at me expectantly as I turned my key in the ignition. I pulled out of the small parking lot, heading past the school to my apartment.

"I got it imported." Fang raised his eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't use your little judgy eyes on me Fang." I said, and he chuckled as we pulled up into the parking lot to my apartment.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, looking at him, but my stomach sank in my stomach as he turned his starved eyes to look at me. He smiled sadly,

"No, But people food would be nice." He smirked at me and got out of my car, walking around to the other side to open my door while I gathered a few of my dirty clothes from the backseat, relieved to find none of my underwear or anything in view. I smiled and nodded at Fang once, before he grinned at me and offered me his elbow to take, my purse hanging off his left shoulder. I laughed at him and took his elbow, and he led me to the door, pushing it open with his back. I laughed again as he picked up the strap of my purse and put it over his head so it went crossbody. I leaned into him, still laughing as I wobbled in my Jeffrey Campbell velvet damsels. He moved his arm from my hand to wrap it around my shoulders casually as we made our way to the elevator.

I felt a blush rise in my cheeks, but I didn't protest. It was cold outside and Fang, even though he was only dressed in a black v-neck and leather jacket was warm and smelled ah-mazing. We made our way up the stairs and He drew his arm away from me and handed my purse back with what looked like disappointment so I could get out my keys and unlock the door. I pushed through the door, and stepped forward, tossing my keys into the bowl and flicked on the light.

"Hey, Fang, I have..." I trailed off as I turned to see Fang holding a bundle of letters in the middle of my floor.

"What's that?" I asked, walking towards him, and he held it out to me. I took it from him, pulling off a yellow sticky note stuck to the front of all the letters.

_Thought I could bring these up to you, thanks for the glass to the head, by the way. I had a wonderful time getting those out. _

My breath caught in my throat as I read the note. Fang took it from me and scanned over it while I undid all the letters and checked them, no return addresses, and only my address on the front the seals on the back of each of the letters in the thick stack with the wax seal popped, like they had all been read. I examined the seal, each of the letters were from whoever wanted a vampire dead and sent me money. I began to hyperventilate, whoever, no, whatever read those letters and had access to my apartment knew about my contracts. Fang put a hand on my shoulder.

"Max are you okay?" He asked, sounding worried. His voice twisted and fluctuated, my vision beginning to tunnel. Angel, she was here, she could get hurt, and Ella too. I had to tell angel, help equip her incase whoever this nutjob was couldn't kill her.

"Max!" Fang shouted as my knees buckled and gave out under me, I blacked out before I hit the floor.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11- Fang P.O.V.

I looped one arm under Max's shoulders just before she hit the ground, her pale eyelids closed and faintly pink. I hooked my other arm under her knees and carried her to the couch. Setting her down, I went back to the counter to pick up the stack of letters and the yellow sticky note that was still stuck to them. I untied the red string that was binding them together, and laid all of them out next to each other on the marble counter top, sticking the sticky note in the middle of all the white letters. I flipped one over that was closest to me, examining the dark grey wax with a dagger, tip facing down, stamped into it.

I frowned, flipping it forward again, no return address. I put the letter back down and picked up the one next to it, a little crusted brown around one of the edges. I wrinkled my nose and checked the seal again. The symbol was the same and no return address was listed. I checked the rest of the letters, all of the them bearing the same symbol and no return address.

I grabbed the next envelope, yanking out the contents, a few dark pictures and a notecard with a few coordinates and an address. I examined the pictures closer, and what looked like a pale girl sitting in the back of a classroom, her eyes the only part of her face visible. I stuffed them haphazardly back into the envelope. I snatched up the next, thick envelope, dumping out the contents on the counter. a thick stack of one hundred dollar bills tied together with a green rubber band and a thick piece of yellow paper. I pushed the bills off to the side, and unfolded the yellow paper, a few coordinates with a slash through them and a smudge of lipstick. But what made my stomach sink was the word, TERMINATED, stamped in bold red caps across the middle of the paper. I got up from the stool and over to the sink, and opened up the cabinet above them where I knew Max kept her alcohol. I sorted past bottles of olive oil and vinegar, finding bottles of red wine, and behind those I found an open bottle of Jack Daniels.

I carefully lifted it out and unscrewed the cap, taking a long swig of it as I went back to the stool and began sorting through the letters again. I went through the last ten, finding another couple thousand and a few more coordinates.

I had my head cradled in my hands, most of the bottle gone, and a very dampened conscience. It was obvious what all this pointed to. Max was a hunter, Vampire hunter, and I was her sworn enemy. And by the looks of it, she was a threat to be reckoned with. I took a stand from where I was sitting on the stool, and went over to the couch where Max lay unconscious.

Looking down at her, blonde hair splayed out like a fan underneath her head, lips slightly parted and her body limp. I couldn't help but feel the lump of betrayal lodged in my throat. It was so obvious that she was a hunter, the way she identified me as a vampire at first glance, the defense between me and her little sister, the way she held her own against an out of control Iggy. It was more than obvious, and I had been blind to who she really was, I was just too caught up in...her.

I brushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face, her forehead was soft, and my fingers felt every tiny bump from old, adolescent acne scars that had long ago healed and grown flat. I quickly drew my hand back away from her head as she stirred.

My mind suddenly began to whirr. I should snap her neck, eliminate her and protect my family. I stepped closer to her, her incredibly intoxicating scent drawing me in. I felt my fangs press through my aching gums, veins press against the skin around my eyes. But did I really want to lose her?

Hyperventilating, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and called Nudge. I shoved through the door out of Max's apartment, needing to get away from her smell.

"Hello?" nudges voice was loud on the other end of the line. I felt my head begin to spin as I talked through the receiver.

"Can you pick me up?" I asked her, my voice sounding gravely. Damnit Fang, dont fricking cry over some human.

"Yeah, where are you?" She asked, her tone a little softer. I told her the address and she told me she would be here in a few minutes, and the line went dead. I leaned my head back against the brick outside of the building, my head was pounding, and the hollow in my stomach felt more pressing than usual. I listened to all the sounds of the sleeping outskirts of town while I waited for Nudge.

When her silver Morgan aeromax pulled up into the parking lot, I shuffled across the asphalt and got in on the passenger seat. I slumped back into the soft, comfortable seats of the car, and Nudge just studied me from the drivers side.

"You feeling okay?" She asked, and I opened my eyes and looked over at her. She looked worried, and her long, curly hair was drawn up in a wet bun on top of her head. I dragged my hands down my face, shaking my head no.

"You want to take the long way home?" She asked, and I nodded. Nudge pulled out of the parking lot, the hum of the Morgan strangely comforting. We began to leave the last of the city, and the once building lined roads became lined with trees. I watched them pass the windows, but all I could think about was Max. I should have killed her in her apartment. what if one of those envelopes filled with coordinates was one of my family members?

"Nudge." I said, My voice sounded gravely and strained, and the lump rose in my throat again.

"Yeah? What happened Fang?" She asked, and her short sentences were surprising me.

"You remember that girl I told you about, when you called me gay? The one who Iggy attacked." She nodded and eyed me with her peripheral vision. I took a deep breath and tried in vain to calm myself down.

"Shes a hunter Nudge. I fucked up." Nudge froze for a second, her eyes widening.

"You didn't give us away did you." I shook my head,

"No, But...I just..." I trailed off, my head spun again, maybe it was just the alcohol, maybe it was just the memory of her face.

"Fang..." I threw open the car door, and Nudge braked hard, bringing the car to a stop next to a park. I jumped out of the car, which was harder than normal in my skinny jeans, and began to walk fast away from Nudge.

"Fang!" She shouted after me. But I just pressed the heels of my hands into my eye sockets, the red and purple stars behind them violently flashing. I felt the wet grass underneath my feet as Nudge yelled out to me again. The engine stopped and she was walking fast towards me. Suddenly, I bumped hard into somebody, knocking them to the ground.

"Hey! Watch it!" I opened my eyes to snarl at who I had run into, but her scrambled up from the ground and grabbed the collar of my black sweatshirt.

"Say you're sorry man." He ground out, trying to look menacing. I sneered at him and knocked his arm away from my collar, and fear flashed in his eyes, I took a step towards him.

"Fang! Stop!" Nudge screamed behind me, but I uppercut him hard in the nose, the bone crunching and was shoved up into his brain, killing him instantly. I just stared down at his body, the blood gushing out from his nose and mouth, eyes still wide and filled with fear.

Nudge gripped hard onto my bicep with one hand and just stared at the now dead runner on the ground.

"Fang..." She whispered to me, and rubbed my arm soothingly, but It only made it worse. A pool of emotion bubbled up from my stomach. I pulled in a sharp breath of air, and bit down on my knuckles, trying to force away tears. It was wrong to be this upset over Max, so upset that I was driven to kill.

A tear ran down my cheek, and I hastily wiped it away, not wanting Nudge to see. But she did, and turned to hug me, her arms going around my chest as she hugged me close. I froze for a second, before wrapping my arms around her shoulders in return, tears running down my face. I hated crying, Hate, Hate, Hate. but I couldn't stop.

What the hell had Max done to me?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Max P.O.V.

I blinked into the darkness, sitting up and rubbed my stiff neck.

"Fang?" I called out into the blank apartment. I sat up and looked around, not seeing or hearing any sign of him.

"How did I get over here?" I mumbled to myself, my palm over the cool leather of my couch. Fang must have moved me here when I passed out. I swung my legs over the side of the couch, standing up and stretching, before a wave of nausea washed over me and I had to steady myself on the couch before slowly standing straight up again. I stretched and took another sweep around my apartment.

"Fang?" I called out again, but I got no response. I swear, if he jumps out at me...

I crossed the room to the counter, and saw all the letters all pulled out of their envelopes, arranged neatly with the coordinate cards and even a few pictures all set up in a pattern over the marble countertop. I looked back over my shoulder, and then looked back down at the letters again. Fang had obviously seen them, but I doubt he would be able to figure out the coordinate pattern first try. I drummed my fingers nervously as I counted the letters, looking to see if anything was missing from the piles.

Finding nothing missing, I grabbed the pile of fifty dollar bills. Fresh from the bank with their paper cuffs still around them. I counted through them, finding my pay for my targets last month. I picked up the stack of them and walked into my room, pulling out my drawer of bras from my dresser and dropped it onto my bed, where it bounced for a second. I put the stack of money on the floor and dumped everything out of the drawer and onto my floor.

A long time ago, my dad had this dresser made for me when I was little. It was pink when I first got it, but I had all the paint stripped off and varnished so it was now a dark, rich brown. The only special thing about it was the drawers. The bottoms of a few of them pulled out to reveal three inches of space to hide stuff. When I was little, I would hide food and books in there, thrilled to have such a secret. But now the drawers held all of our money and a few of my Dads old journals. Some of them were even his fathers, and the pages were yellowing and falling out. My aunt had given them to me when I moved out two years ago and got my own apartment. I didn't have the heart to read them, but didn't want to lose another piece of my parents.

I dropped the stacks of bills in with the rest, and slapped the cover back over them, pushing the edges of the board until I heard the,

"Click." Signaling the board was tight in place. I scooped all of my bras back into the drawer and slid it back into the rest of the dresser right as Ella and Angel arrived home.

"Maxie! I brought chinese!" I slammed the drawer and ran as fast as I could to Ella. I slid into the hall on my socks and bolted into the kitchen, where I spotted Ella dropping my keys into the bowl. I turned hard but my feet slipped of the polished hardwood floor, and I fell on my side on the floor.

Ella and Angel laughed and just looked at me on the floor while I picked myself up and pouted, snatching the brown paper bag and sat down at my spot at the table, ripping open the top grudgingly and pulling out boxes. Angel sat next to me, bouncing excitedly in her chair. Ella brought me a plate and I scooped a glob of white rice onto my plate, and passing the box to Angel. My eye flicked up from my food to see Ella craning her neck to look at the array of papers spread out on the counter.

I looked back down at my food. I would sort out the coordinates tomorrow, tonight I would give my poor brain a break. But why did Fang leave when he did? He knew I was a hunter, it shouldn't have been a huge surprise, if a suprise at all. I absentmindedly shoved food into my mouth, not even looking to see what I was eating. I still had a dull ache in the back of my skull, but it was slowly receding.

"How was school, Ange?" I asked, looking up from my food, and she chewed and swallowed before speaking.

"Good. I have friends now." She told me, looking hopeful. I tried my best to look genuine as I smiled back at her, but she just rolled her eyes. I dropped my fake smile, and Angel went back to picking at her food.

"You could at least try to be happy for me, Max." She fit another piece of spicy beef into her already full mouth. I sighed, Ella looking between the two of us looking a little lost.

"I am! Its just that you just can't be frivolous about these things, some people can be..."

"Can be what Max!" Angel shouted, cutting me off, and Ella jumped in her seat.

"They can be dangerous!" I shouted back, taking an angry bite of chicken.

"Oh please..." Angel sat back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling, murderously at the light fixture. Angel always had this glare, her adorable blue eyes went stony cold, and it horrified most people when she felt the need to break it out. I looked up to the poor light fixture that was on the receiving end of that glare and sent it a silent apology.

"Angel, I really think that..." Angel jumped up from her chair, knocking over her glass of orange juice with her plate. Her glare turned to me, and Ella flinched next to me.

"Are you scared because of what happened to Mom and Dad? You think that something like that is going to happen to me just because i'm making friends? Well you know what." She leaned in close to my face. What she said was completely true, and it stung.

"I know what you do Max. You think I'm so blind that after all the time I've been your little sister I wouldn't notice where you got the money, or why you never worked except at night. I'm not stupid Max!" She stormed out of the room, her small shoulders hunched. I groaned and leaned forward, resting my forehead on the heels of my hands. I looked up at Ella, who was quietly eating, watching me out of the corner of her eye.

"I just want to keep her safe." She pursed her lips and tapped her fork on the edge of her plate.

"Maybe thats not whats best. She won't be safe is she's blind." She told me gently, as if waiting for me to blow my top. I slowly let out my breath. She was right, home isn't safe anymore. And Angel home didn't even stand a chance against whatever was out there.

"Do I teach her?" I asked Ella, sitting up in my chair. Ella just shrugged.

"I would have been surprised if she didn't know after all this time. I mean, shes a smart kid." I picked at my food, I didn't want to put Angel in any sort of situation where I could lose her. I pushed out my chair and made my way down to Angels room. I knocked,

"Go away, Max." I rolled my eyes and pushed open the door, seeing Angel sitting on her bed with her laptop pulled up in front of her. Her floor and bed was littered with stuffed animals and blankets, the thick shades drawn so the only light being cast was from a lamp on her desk covered in schoolwork. She didn't even look up at me when I shut the door or went to sit in front of her, just continued to sit in front of her.

"I'm not trying to be a bitch." Angel snorted and her eyes flicked up to meet mine for a second.

"I just can't lose anymore of my family. You're all I have left, if you die I die. So ask me anything and I promise I will answer you truthfully. Promise." she looked up at me, her huge blue eyes studying mine for a second.

"What killed them?" She asked, and I sighed. She didn't remember anything. She was too little, but she probably still wondered.

"They were killed, but i'm not sure what by. I looked like a human, but something was off." I told her, and her eyebrows furrowed.

"So you think it was a vampire?" I nodded.

"Yeah, but something distinguished it from anything else I'd encountered." She slapped shut the lid of her laptop. That was one good thing about having been living with no one but Angel for so long; we had our fights, but they were ridiculously short.

"I want to help." She said, and I felt my stomach flip flop in my stomach.

"I'm smart, I can help you find things or strategize! I take all A.P. classes and im a grade ahead, I may not be helpful in the field but I can be helpful with my head." I felt my stomach calm, having her help but not in a dangerous position would be good, and she was smart...

I got up and left the room, going into my room and pulling out the lowest drawer of my dresser, dumping out my clothes and yanked out the oldest journal. I picked it up, and walked back to Angels room, Hearing dishes clink as Ella loaded them into the dishwasher. I plopped back down on Angels bed, setting the journal down on the feathery pink and brown duvet.

"This was dads. He was a hunter before me. He wrote everything he knew in a few journals, this is the first one." Angels eyes widened and she carefully picked up the old journal, turning it over in her hands before opening the yellowed pages and beginning to leaf through it.

"Everything?" She asked, and I nodded, and she climbed over her laptop and wrapped her wiry arms around my neck. I just sat frozen for a second before hugging her back.

"I just didn't want to lose the last of my family." I whispered, and Angel nodded into my shoulder.

"I know, but you can't keep me holed up forever."

"Oh yes I can." Angel pulled away and grinned at me, the journal still clutched in her hand.

"Go eat your dinner." Angel commanded me, And pointed to the door. I groaned as I got up from the bed and stuck my tongue out at her as I shut her door behind me as I left. As soon as it closed behind me, the smile dropped from my face. I walked fast into the kitchen to grab my purse.

"Do you need help with dishes, Ells?" I asked, and Ella waved me off.

"Prep me a gun that I can keep in my bag and I'll let you off." I swiped my bag off the counter and walked back to my bedroom with my purse and took out my gold-plated magnum. It, like most of my guns, was my dads, and was custom made. I hung it on its nail and eyed a black Beretta Neos that I hadn't used in a while. I took it from the wall and checked to see if it was loaded, and found it empty. I took a dirty rag from the top of my low dresser and ran it over the barrel, the gun looking pretty clean. I loaded it and tucked it into my belt, taking care that the safety was on.

I went back into the hall, taking the gun from my belt and putting it down on the counter. I gathered all of the contracts and money from the counter, and carried it back to my room. I re-aranged them on the floor in front of my bed. I stared at them for a while, before turning and crawling into bed, pulling the dark brown and red blankets over my head.


End file.
